:

Even though for-profit charter school companies targeted the Tennessee legislature with several lobbyists this year, their agenda appeared dead until a last-minute bid slid through last week.

The plan to allow for-profit charter schools in Tennessee twice failed in Senate committees this year. But an eleventh-hour change to a noncontroversial bill originally created to clean up a few charter school rules started the debate again.

The newest plan is sponsored by Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, and is headed to a full Senate vote after last week sailing through the Senate Education Committee that she chairs. It has not been placed on the voting calendar yet.

Gresham did not return messages left at her office.

When she offered her changes to colleagues, Gresham said “As we all know, charter schools are an important part of ongoing education reform. Now that we see the real value of charter schools, now we have one more step.”

A spokesman for the Tennessee School Boards Association believes lobbyists can take some credit for the amendment Gresham introduced to allow for-profit companies. The original bill that Gresham chose to amend is Senate Bill 205; it has a counterpart in House Bill 315.

The House bill will be considered by the Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee on Wednesday. At that time, a representative on the committee can offer an amendment similar to Gresham’s. The House bill was originally sponsored by Rep. Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville, who chairs the House Education Committee.

Brooks was not available for comment Friday.

Democratic Memphis lawmaker John DeBerry was considering a for-profit charter bill earlier in the session, but has not offered one.

State law requires all charter schools and any management companies they might hire to have nonprofit status.

The original Senate Bill 205/House Bill 315 had been planned to clarify several issues. It would establish the same purchase amounts on which both charter schools and traditional public schools must get bids at $10,000. It would clarify that when a public school is converted to a charter school, the students zoned for that school may attend the charter or any public school in their district.

The bill also would require local school boards and charter schools to agree in writing on fees that might be charged to the charter school by the local district.

“As far as I know, when the stand-alone bill failed twice, they looked for another approach,” said Lee Harrell, director of government relations and policy for the Tennessee School Boards Association, referring to the lobbyists for the for-profit schools.

According to the Tennessee Ethics Commission, two of the nation’s largest for-profit charter school companies have lobbyists in Nashville.

Charter Schools USA has two lobbyists in Nashville and National Heritage Academies employs the same two lobbyists.

“We would like to help bring the investment and high-performing proven experience” of Charter Schools USA to Tennessee, the company’s CEO Jon Hage said in a statement.

Hage’s company operates 48 charter schools on 45 campuses in five states and reported 2012 revenues of $285 million in 2012, according to a Florida Trend magazine article naming him “Floridian of the Year” in 2012.

The Fort Lauderdale-based company employs more than 4,000 and enrolls about 40,000 students, according to its website.

National Heritage Academies is based in Grand Rapids, Mich., employs 4,000 people and enrolls more than 45,000 students. It has 75 charter schools in Colorado, Indiana, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to its website.

Gresham’s amendment, which was added Wednesday and voted out of committee at the same time, came as a surprise to education groups who have worked on the charter school issue, including the Tennessee Charter Schools Association.

Matt Throckmorton, executive director of the Tennessee Charter Schools Association, said his group plans to stay neutral until learning more about the for-profit model.

Harrell does not.

“Just in general, when you have people making decisions and their motivation is to make a profit instead of what is best for kids,” it raises a red flag, Harrell said.

Harrell’s board thought the idea was dead for 2013 so “we’re going to have to strategize” on ways to block the plan, he said.

Harrell’s counterpart in Florida urges Tennessee officials to require financial transparency and accountability to taxpayers if they do adopt a for-profit policy.

“Remember, they are trying to make money,” said Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.